Ron Paul Sounds Alarm on “Disturbing” Super Congress

Congressman Ron Paul warns that the all-powerful new “Super Congress” created by the vote on the debt ceiling will be used to fast-track tax increases while concentrating more power over the nation’s purse strings in the hands of the Washington elite.

As we reported yesterday, the “Super Congress,” which was approved by the House yesterday and is set to be rubber stamped in the Senate today, will establish a new level of unaccountable government, and will strip elected representatives of the right to amend legislation or filibuster on whatever issues it sees fit, not merely limited to the debt situation.

This body will have “extraordinary new powers” to quickly force legislation through both chambers, including gun control, entitlement cuts and tax hikes.

In a statement made yesterday in response to the passage of the Budget Control Act, Congressman Ron Paul expressed his alarm at the establishment of this “disturbing” new committee, and warned that it would be used to ram through tax increases.

“The legislation produced by this commission will be fast-tracked, and Members will not have the opportunity to offer amendments,” said Paul. “Approval of the recommendations of the “Super Congress” is tied to yet another debt ceiling increase. This guarantees that Members will face tremendous pressure to vote for whatever comes out of this commission– even if it includes tax increases. This provision is an excellent way to keep spending decisions out of the reach of members who are not on board with the leadership’s agenda.”

The Congressman added that the committee represents “Nothing more than a way to disenfranchise the majority of Congress by denying them the chance for meaningful participation in the crucial areas of entitlement and tax reform. It cedes power to draft legislation to a special commission, hand-picked by the House and Senate leadership.”

Indeed, the White House has already indicated that it will harness the power of the Super Congress, thereby becoming the de facto deciding 13th member, to terminate the Bush tax cuts from 2012 onwards.

As CBS News reports, Congress will be mandated to carry out an up or down vote, with no amendments allowed, on the recommendations of the super committee on December 23rd, one month after the new body completes its work, which will be focused on cutting Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security.

“Congress could not modify the committee’s recommendation,” reports CBS, an admission that powers ascribed to elected lawmakers that are enshrined in the Constitution are being completely gutted.

If Congress rejects the super committee’s proposals, “then automatic across the board spending cuts of at least $1.2 trillion would go into effect.”

Second Amendment organizations like Gun Owners of America fear that this new super committee of lawmakers would not stop at ruling over the debt issue, and that it could move on to target the right to bear arms by pushing legislation on “Gun owner registration, “bans on semi-automatic firearms,” and the “adoption of a UN gun control treaty.”

The fact that the establishment of a body which threatens to completely re-write over 200 years worth of constitutionally-based legislative practice has sailed through with barely a whimper of debate from politicians or the mainstream media is a damning indictment of how the Obama administration’s penchant for executive autonomy has aggressively seized control of the political process.

Once again, it is up to the grass roots to raise the alarm on this shocking development in the hope that it can later be shot down by a federal judge still familiar with the basic tenets of the constitution.